Author's Note: WARNING. The following chapter of this story contains some MAJOR spoilers for the general plot line of Xenoblade Chronicles. There's a bit of a deviation with the original game's ending and how certain events play out in this story, but I'll explain more in the A/N at the bottom of the page.
A Rank/ Purple Affinity:
At this point, Robin was starting to get a little worried.
It had been four days since she had that chess game with Shulk in the library, and… well, they haven't spoken to each other since. Or, more specifically, Shulk hadn't really spoken to anyone at all since then. If Shulk had a match then he would attend that at least, but afterwards he immediately disappeared again.
Robin knew she had to talk to him, but she was also trying to respect his personal space. She remembered that what she probably said in the library must have brought up some kind of memory in his mind, and it was haunting him. Robin wanted to respect that, but…
She desperately wanted to talk to him again. To hear his voice, to see his smile, to be in his presence…
She stopped herself from finishing that thought. That was NOT the kind of thing to be thinking about right now when it came to Shulk.
More importantly, she needed to find him. So she started in the most obvious spot…
His room in the mansion. Unfortunately, the last few times she tried to talk to him here, the door was either locked or he wasn't there. Still, it was the best lead she had right now, and it was the best place to start. So she headed to his room to find, surprise, the door closed. She knocked on the door, but no sound came from the other side.
"Guess he's not here… again." Robin concluded. She mentally sighed, and realized that this attempt was all in vain. If he wasn't there the last few times, what would have made this attempt any different from the last one? "Well, I give up for now. I suppose I'll just try again tomorrow…"
Robin proceeded to head back to her own room, but upon returning there, she noticed something she had not seen before.
There was a letter on the ground close to the door. "How long has that been there?" Robin questioned. She picked it up and turned it over, and began to read.
Robin,
I know you have been trying to find me the past few days. I'm sorry if I worried you, but I needed some time to myself to mull over my own thoughts. But I've finally come to a decision, and I feel you of all people have the right to know the truth. Find me in the courtyard out back at 8 o'clock tonight, and I will explain everything.
-Shulk
While she was happy to know that he wasn't mad at her, this just raised further questions. What was it that he wanted to talk about? Was he going to tell her that memory she accidentally jogged in his mind? On one hand, part of her didn't want to know what that was, as it was his right to tell others about it, but at the same time…
She wanted to know what she could do to help him. And so she waited until nightfall, and went out to the courtyard.
By the time she went outside, moonlight had begun to pour over the landscape. The lighting made the entire courtyard glowing with a faint blue light, giving Robin enough illumination so that she could still easily see where she was walking. She wandered around the courtyard for a few brief minutes, until she found him.
He was sitting on a bench with his back facing her, almost in a way that looked like he was meditating. She lightly took a few steps towards him, but moved slower and slower the closer she got to him.
"Now this is just plain silly," she thought to herself. "It's just Shulk, one of my closest friends that I've made here so far. So why… Why am I suddenly being so nervous around him?"
He spoke up, alerting Robin that he was aware of her presence.
"I'm sorry if I worried you the past few days Robin, giving my tendency to disappear." Shulk calmly told her.
"N-no, it's… it's ok, Shulk. I just… wanted to make sure you were alright, is all." Robin managed to stutter out.
Shulk turned around and looked at her, and noticed some key details. For one, she wasn't wearing her tactician's coat; just the white undershirt and pants. In addition, her hair was down, rather than in her signature twin tails. While he mentally deducted this change in attire looked fine on her, he dismissed that thought and began to speak.
"Well, I suppose an explanation is in order. Over the past few days, I've been trying to mentally get over… something that's been bothering me for a while. However, I can't keep this to myself anymore. There's something that I desperately need to let out. Would it be alright if you listened to what I have to say for a while?" Shulk asked her.
Robin sat on the bench adjacent from the one Shulk was sitting in and slowly nodded. "Of course I will. But, before you do, I need to have something clarified."
"What's that?"
"Did… Did what I ask you, back in the library… was this the cause of your temporary disappearance?"
"…Yes, and no. What you did ask me did bring up a rather… painful memory, but it was a memory that's been eating away at me for quite a while now. Your question just brought it up at a very un-opportune time is all."
"If that's the case, then I'm so sorry. I must have just spoke without even thinking."
Shulk looked back at Robin, and gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry too much about it. You didn't really have any idea."
That's when he let out a long sigh, and began to tell his story.
"Remember when we had that conversation way back in my room in the mansion a few months back? When we were telling each other where we came from, the friends we made, and the experiences we had? Well, there was… someone that I neglected to mention to you. I was hoping to keep their identity anonymous, but I feel like you have the right to know who that person actually was… and how much they still mean to me."
Robin felt herself tensing up a little bit, as she realized her theory was seemingly correct. "Someone… you neglected to mention?"
"Yes… her name is Fiora."
"Fiora?" Robin quickly picked up on the fact that Shulk referred to her in the present tense rather than past tense. She deduced that if that's the case, she might still be alive. Making sure she didn't come across as disrespectful, she worded her next words carefully. "What's she like?"
"Well, I've known her almost my entire life. We were good friends as children, and we spent a great deal of our time together. I always saw her as one of my greatest friends, but I only realized my true feelings for her… after the first time I lost her."
"The first time you lost her?"
"When the Mechon made their first assault on Colony 9, a year after the Battle of Sword Valley, they were being led by a Faced Mechon named Metal Face. At the time, the Monado wasn't capable of damaging the armor of Faced Mechon, so Metal Face was beating us with little to no trouble at all. That's when Fiora stepped in… and sacrificed herself so that I may live… or so I initially believed.
"So… she actually survived the attack?"
"Technically, she did survive, but I didn't know that at the time. After the attack had ended, I was fueled with anger and hatred. I was so upset over her 'death' I initially didn't know what to do. After a few days contemplating over my options, I decided to leave the colony and pursue Metal Face. At the time, all I wanted to do was to make them pay for what they had done. That's when my journey across the Bionis and Mechonis truly began."
"What happened when you found her again?"
"What was left of Fiora's body had been taken to Mechonis, where she was resurrected in a mechanical body. She had been repurposed with the intention to be used as the vessel of another Faced Mechon. Unlike some of the other Homs turned into Mechon, who had their memories completely wiped out, hers were simply 'blocked'. When I did find her again, she didn't initially recognize me or any of the others who were there with me. Only later did she regain those memories and her personality."
Robin began to smile a little bit. "I could only imagine how happy you must have been to of reunited with her after all that time."
Shulk also smiled back at her as he continued his story. "Once I found out that Homs were being turned into Mechon, with Fiora being one of them, my outlook on the situation changed. When I first set out on my journey, I simply wanted to destroy each and every Mechon for all that they had done; but once I found out there were Homs inside some of them, I needed to uncover the truth. The true turning point for me was when I learned that Mechonis had an entire civilization in hiding, called the Machina. They wanted the same thing as us Homs: To live in peace. My goal at that point had changed… and that's when we learned that Zanza, the god of the Bionis, was pulling the strings the entire time."
"What was Zanza after then?"
"Unlike Meyneth, the goddess of the Mechonis who loved her creations, Zanza only saw his subjects as a source of energy to keep him alive. He planned to use the Telethia, a race created for the sole purpose of wiping out all forms of life, to cause complete genocide across the Bionis. With the help of some key individuals, namely a man named Alvis, we successfully managed to destroy him. In the process, the Bionis began to crumble, as it had to God presiding over it. I was offered the position by Alvis, but I only used that power to do one thing: recreate the world to the point where it no longer had any need for gods.
"So your old world crumbled… then how different was this new world?"
"Honestly, not too different. All the forms of life across the Bionis and Mechonis survived, and we created a new Colony. It's been about a year and a half since the restoration began, and everything has been coming along pretty nicely." Shulk began to frown as he finished that sentence. "I wish I could say that that's where we all lived happily ever after… but that's unfortunately not the case."
Robin could tell this next part had to do with Fiora, as he had yet to reveal what became of her. "What happened to Fiora then?"
"Fiora was brought into the new world just like everyone else, but since Meyneth's soul was no longer inhabiting her body, she didn't have that long to live in that body. That's when Linada, a Machina doctor, supposedly found a solution. With her help, we managed to find an ancient piece of High Entia technology: a regeneration chamber. With it, Fiora would be able to return to her old body, but she would have to reside in the chamber for six whole months. After Zanza was defeated and the world was reset, we actually found out that the chamber was located in a cylinder hanger just outside Colony 9. Fiora entered the chamber, and thus began our six month wait for her return."
Whereas she was prepared to jump to conclusions and assume that this meant Fiora was a-ok, Robin remembered something Shulk said earlier. The attack on Colony 9 was the first time he had lost her. That's when she noticed Shulk beginning to tremble in his seat.
"And then… came the day when she was to leave the chamber…" Shulk thought back to the events that had transpired that day…
Fire.
The smoke had covered most of his vision. He could barely see inside the hangar, and the amount of noise almost made him go deaf.
When Shulk had woken up that morning, he initially thought today was going to be a day he and his friends would celebrate for a long time coming. What proceeded to happen, was not exactly what he had in mind.
Most of Fiora's closest friends had gathered to celebrate her return from her six-month departure into the regeneration chamber, and were making preparations across the house she and her older brother Dunban shared. Everything was coming along nicely…
And that's when Shulk, for the first time since Zanza's defeat, had a vision.
An entire horde of Telethia were descending upon the colony, destroying buildings and brutally killing all of its inhabitants. While Shulk was in initial disbelief that a number of Telethia had somehow survived the restoration process, he was able to describe his vision quickly enough so that the colony was able to defend itself.
When the attack finally came, the people of New Colony 9 were more than prepared. The Telethia were powerful, but ultimately very few casualties were had on the people of the colony. It was during the middle of the battle, however, that Shulk had another vision…
The cylinder hanger, which is where the regeneration chamber was held, was on fire. While most of the Telethia horde was busy attacking the colony, a smaller squad had specifically targeted the hangar. Shulk proceeded to make a mad dash to the hangar, with Dunban and Reyn in tow, hoping to save their friend…
But by the time they arrived, it was too late. The fire had already started, and the smoke and flames grew higher and higher.
By the time the hanger had burned to the ground, the rest of the New Colony 9 defense force searched the remains of the building to see if there were any ether cylinders left to salvage, or for any sign of Fiora's whereabouts. Unfortunately for Shulk and his friends, while a few ether cylinders were restored…
Fiora was gone.
"And all of that happened about 6 months ago…"
As Robin listened to Shulk's story, she could tell that Shulk was trying his absolute hardest to hold back from crying. The sight of him in such a distressed state almost made her want to break down too.
"I'm… so sorry, Shulk… That's just horrible…" Robin still had many questions she wanted to ask him. The one that was mainly bugging her, was how the Telethia were still alive. Weren't the presumingly erased from existence once Shulk's world had been reset? While she desperately wanted to know, she knew now was not the time to ask that. Not until Shulk was able to calm down a little…
After a few minutes of silence, Robin spoke up.
"You feeling any better now?"
"…Yeah. Thank you Robin, for listening to that. I… REALLY needed to get that out of me."
"If anything, I feel like I should apologize to you. I was the one who accidentally put those thoughts in your head, after that comment I made back in the library…"
"Robin, again, it's ok. I don't blame you at all for that. You had no idea."
Robin then remembered. She still wanted to know a few things after everything he had told her.
"Shulk, one question. Do you know how the Telethia managed to survive?"
Shulk sighed. "Honestly, no. After Zanza's destruction, there was no trace of them anywhere across what had remained of the Bionis. It wasn't until that fateful day they managed to resurface. What worries me the most is if they decide to attack again while I'm still here, competing in Smash…"
"What will you do, if you find out that does happen?"
"I'll probably have to talk Master Hand into letting me temporarily leave to go back home and deal with it. I just hope that the colony will be as well prepared to defend itself like it was the first time they attacked."
Robin grimaced. If that did happen, Shulk would very easily be able to take care of himself, but… what if he loses someone close to him again?
"Robin… what I'm about to say next may sound crazy or delusional, but it's my personal belief. Even though we found no trace of Fiora after that building had burned down… I refuse to believe that she simply died in that fire. After everything we went through, I know she wouldn't simply die to something like that."
"Shulk… that's not delusional to think at all." Shulk was admittedly very surprised to hear Robin say that.
"Really?"
"Of course. Remember how I told you how I sacrificed myself to destroy Grima? It took him awhile, but Chrom eventually found me again. I firmly believe we are not pawns to some scripted fate. If my bond with Chrom, Lissa, Sumia, Lucina, and all of the others was strong enough for them to find me again… I believe that without a doubt, your bond with Fiora is powerful enough that she had to of survived. Different circumstances, mind you… but don't give up hope just yet. I'm certain she's got to be out there, somewhere. You just have to find her."
Shulk grew silent. No better words could be said. Robin not only didn't disagree with Shulk's belief, she flat out encouraged it.
That's when Shulk reached over and brought her into a very tight hug.
"Thank you, Robin. Thank you for being such a great friend."
While she was initially surprised at his hug, she smiled, and gladly returned it.
They stayed like that for a while, safely in each other's presence…
Shulk slowly began to open his eyes. He remembered telling Robin his story, but was it… a dream?
As his eyes began to open, he looked at his surroundings. He was still sitting on the bench in the courtyard out back, with the clock tower of the mansion reading 9:30. An hour and a half after he and Robin's meeting. That's when he noticed something was holding him down. He looked down to see what it was, and while it wasn't entirely what he expected, it did explain a few things.
There was Robin, her head resting on his lap. 'Oh! Um… guess it wasn't a dream after all then?' Shulk thought to himself. 'You know… she actually looks kind of cute, when she's sleeping… Where the hell did that thought come from?' Discarding that previous thought, he decided now might be a good idea to wake her up.
"Hey, Robin… we both fell asleep. You can get up now." He lightly shook her awake, and she began to slowly open her eyes.
Once she realized where she was and where her head was resting, she immediately sprang up from her position.
"O-oh my god, I… I'm so sorry Shulk!" She was uncontrollably blushing, obviously embarrassed by the situation.
"I-it's ok. We must have fallen asleep after our talk…"
After a few moments of awkward silence between the two, Robin finally spoke up.
"I… probably ought to head back to my room. It's getting pretty late."
"Yeah… that's probably for the best. Here, I'll walk you there."
The two headed back to Robin's room. Once they reached her door, Robin slowly turned the knob, and looked back at Shulk.
"Thanks, Shulk… I'm glad we had this talk."
"Your welcome. I'm sorry I worried you the past few days with my temporary disappearance."
Robin was about to enter her room when Shulk stopped her.
"Robin, before you go, I need to let you know something." While she was tired, this managed to get her attention.
"What's that?"
"I've decided what I'm going to do. Once this season of Smash is over, and I head back to my world… I'm going to go on a journey. I don't care how long it takes, and I don't care how old I may be by the time I'm done. But I am going to find Fiora. I'll find her, and I'll bring her back. That's a promise that I intend to keep."
"That's… that's wonderful, Shulk! But… actually… that gives me an idea." Robin wasn't sure how he would respond to what she was about to ask, but she figured she ought to throw out the idea at least.
"An idea?"
"Once you head off on your journey… Let me come with you."
"Come again?"
"Let me come with you. I want to be there when you find her again. I truly believe you deserve to be happy, Shulk. And if I can be there with you to make that dream a reality, then that would make me even happier."
Shulk stopped and considered Robin's proposal. He certainly wouldn't mind her tagging along, but he wasn't sure if she was truly being serious about this, or if this was something she would back out of when the time actually came.
"If you really want to come with me, then I won't object. But what about the people of your world? Don't you want to return to them once this is all over?"
Robin realized the point he just made, but proceeded to back up her proposal. "I would go back to them first, of course, but keep in mind: Ylisse is at peace now. Relations with our neighboring kingdom Plegia have been relatively neutral. And besides, it's been awhile since my journey ended anyway… I certainly wouldn't mind going on a new one."
Shulk smiled. "Alright Robin, you got yourself a deal. Once this season of Smash has come to a close, I'll let you come with me on my journey."
"Thank you, Shulk. I promise you won't regret this decision." Robin went in for another hug, but this time Shulk had been anticipating it. After a few brief seconds, Robin opened the door to her room, and looked back at him one last time for the night.
"Well… goodnight."
"Goodnight Robin. I'll see you in the morning."
Robin closed the door, and began to change to her nightgown. While she didn't know what tomorrow had in store for her, she had a pretty clear idea of just who she was going to be dreaming about that night…
Robin and Shulk attained Support Level A!
Shulk [Purple Affinity] Robin
Budding Companions
And now we know why Shulk was so initially upset at the end of the last chapter. But the question still remains... Did Fiora truly perish in that fire, or did she manage to escape in time?
I'm gonna be honest, while FemRobin x Shulk is not only the point of this entire story, but also a personal Crack Pairing of mine... I still am a very avid supporter of Shulk x Fiora. (It's practically canon in Xenoblade's actual ending anyways) I felt I would have been doing a very big injustice to her character if I just simply killed her off (without going into any sort of detail as to why) or pretended that she never existed, so that's why I made this chapter to kinda give a vague idea to her whereabouts. While Fiora was mentioned quite a bit in this chapter, I'll just go ahead and let you know she won't be making a physical appearance at all for the rest of this story.
Speaking of which, next chapter is the finale! And as for what I have planned... This last chapter will most likely be the longest one that I write thus far. Hope you all look forward to it! As always, make sure to leave a review if you got time. I'd appreciate any sort of feedback you guys can give, positive or negative.
One last thing: I did a shameless plug for Xenoblade Chronicles X last chapter, and by god I'm about to another one. Fire Emblem Fates is amazing and you should go play it. Localization controversy be damned!
Ok, I'm done. Until next time, toodles.
